An is the son of heaven, the new mourning Yuanfu, and wants to invite the Empress Dowager Chongde to the court. The king of the world is in infancy, and the mother and child are one, so they can come to the court; The Queen Mother is also unable to make decisions, and must consult the minister. Now last year, he was ten years old, and he was married to the crown, but he ordered his sister-in-law to come to the court, showing that he was young and weak, so he glorified the saintly virtue! The princes will want to do this, and they will not be made by servants, and those who pity them will be generally heard. "An does not want to abuse power and Huan Chong, so the queen mother is in the court, and she has been able to make a special ruling, so she does not follow Biao's words.

In May of the first year of Ningkang, Renzi, the queen mother returned to the court.

---------- excerpt from the introduction

In the first year of Ningkang (A.D. 373) summer and May, Ningbo Port, Chengxian County, Huiji County, this seaport built by Beifu is now the largest port of Jiangzuo Sanwu (Wuxing, Wujun, Huiji), it connects Weihai of Qingzhou in the north, Qingdao and Yuzhou of Xuzhou (now Lianyungang, Jiangsu), Kumamoto and Tosa in the east, and Guangzhou and South China Sea in the south.

Originally, according to Zeng Hua's original idea, Sanwu Port should be located in the "famous city" of Qiantang, but unfortunately due to the problem of Qiantang tide, Qiantang Port soon encountered a bottleneck in its development. Zeng Hua, who "knows his mistakes and corrects", immediately thought of another "famous port in another world" - Ningbo Port.

Zeng Hua carefully studied the map of Jiangzuo Sanwu sent back, and finally determined that Wanghai Town, Zhenxian County, which had a good deep-water port, was the Ningbo Port he knew, so he ordered the formal development and construction, and simply named it Ningbo Port, echoing the invitation of the previously developed Dinghai Island Port. In just a few years, due to the increasing pace of the Beifu Navy to the south, Ningbo Port quickly became the largest port in Jiangzuo. And Wanghai Town also developed. It quickly became a town with tens of thousands of inhabitants, and it was one of the few places in the prosperous land of Sanwu.

In the bustling crowd of Wanghai Town, four literati in green robes were inconspicuous.

"Second son, let's go to this restaurant and sit down." One of the literati pointed to a restaurant on the side of the road.

"It's okay, I've been walking all morning, and I'm a little hungry." The man who took the lead in the middle nodded. "Zhang Qi, Yao Chen, let's go in."

The other two nodded, and went in together.

When I walked in, I found that the first floor was already full, and the sharp-eyed guy knew that these four people were not "mortals", so he hurriedly greeted them loudly. led the four of them to the private seat facing the window on the second floor.

"Second son, please order." The literati who spoke first handed the menu to the first one who had been given the first hand, and spoke.

"Be honest, Zhang Qi. Yao Chen, what do you want to eat? Let's just say I'm in for a treat today. The second son said very boldly, and the mouth of the guy standing next to him was cracked to his ear.

"Second son, forget it, let's order a few randomly. What can this place be good to eat. The literati named Yao Chen pouted and said. He was the least literati of the four.

The guy didn't want to hear this: "This guest officer, it's not our boast. Our Zhouji Restaurant is also one of the best places in Ningbo Port, whether it is a guest from the south or from the north, there is no good place to eat my family's dishes. ”

Yao Chen immediately jumped up: "Hey, boy, your Zhouji Restaurant is the No. 1 in Ningbo Port, can it also be compared with the restaurants and restaurants in Luoyang and Chang'an?" I'm afraid that even Qingdao and Weihai can't compare. ”

When the guy heard this, he was deflated: "This gentleman, I really can't help it, they are all small-mouthed." At first glance, you are nobles, Luoyang and Chang'an have eaten, and our small restaurant is really incomparable. Don't hide it from a few people who understand, my restaurant will also be blinded by Huiji, those who have never opened meat in Wu County, like you from Beifu, just want to fill your stomach. ”

Speaking of which, the guy secretly scolded himself in his heart, today he was really blinded by the nuns of Xingfa Temple, how dare he boast in front of them about his Zhouji Restaurant, if it is compared with Luoyang and Chang'an Restaurant, his own wine and food are really fed to pigs.

The guy quickly sent the four good dishes, and the literati who started handed over a few copper plates, and the guy took them respectfully, and he didn't even need to look at them, but he knew that it was a real Beifu copper coin when he touched it. The same is the square hole copper coin, one side of the word: the household supervision, the other side of the word when the money of the Beifu copper coin is worth more than the Jiangzuo copper coin, in addition to it is the Beifu casting, not only thicker, the square hole is smaller, but also better than the Jiangzuo copper coin, the real "hard currency" so the people would rather use the Beifu copper coin. It's a pity that most of the Beifu copper coins and silver yuan were collected by the government and the Gaomen family, and used to trade with the merchants of Beifu, because the tyrannical merchants of Beifu would not recognize Jiang Zuo's worthless copper coins. Therefore, this Beifu coin is even more precious among the people.

The man was a smart man, he took the reward from the literati, and knew that people had something to ask him, so he immediately stood aside and waited.

Sure enough, the first literati asked, "Man, do you have a familiar and reliable coachman to recommend?" ”

"Where are you going, this guest officer?"

"A few of us want to go to Huiji Mountain to visit the ancient times."

The man knew that this was the fault of the literati, and immediately advised: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is better not to go out of the city." ”

"What's wrong?" The literati named Shoucheng raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Don't hide it from you, this city is full of hungry people waiting for disaster relief, and there is no peace along the way." The guy said with a bitter face.

"Ah, how did it get to this?" The literati who was the head asked with a frown.

"Several guest officials are from Beifu, of course they don't know the hardships on Jiangzuo's side. The year before last, last year, there was a two-year drought, and there was no harvest in the fields, if it weren't for the merchants and churches in Beifu to release grain for disaster relief, I don't know how many people would starve to death. Many people sold their ancestral fields to survive the famine, but now they see that they are about to turn around, but there is no land to plant. Now the landless hungry people everywhere are gathered outside the counties and counties, waiting dryly for a mouthful of gruel to drink. Among these hungry people, there are many treacherous villains, who took the opportunity to gather in the mountains and forests, robbed houses and houses, and the Confucian Mansion in our county town a few days ago

A batch of goods was robbed on the side of the road outside Juzhang City, and more than a dozen people were injured

"I can't imagine that Sanwu is rotten like this, and this government doesn't care about it?" The literati named Zhang Qi, who had not spoken just now, couldn't help but ask.

"Official? Alas," the man sighed. "The past two years have been a lot of disasters. First the first emperor died, and then Huan Da Sima. In the past, it was Huan Da Sima who spoke, but now that he is an old man, who will make up for the lack of land left behind? The people in the government are busy thinking about these things, thinking about following the new master, and drilling to keep their positions. Who has the heart to take care of the hungry people, isn't there still a merchant in Beifu who is providing disaster relief, as long as there is no major incident. ”

It seems that this guy knows that the people of Beifu are the most enthusiastic about political affairs, and only a place like Ningbo Port, where people from Beifu are the mainstay, will make the guy comment on court affairs so boldly.

"Second son, forget it, safety is the most important." The literati named Shoucheng glanced at the man who had exited the private room and whispered, "Otherwise, we won't be able to explain to the general." ”

—

The two people next to him also echoed each other. Persuade the literati who started to do so to stop thinking about the mountains and rivers. The literati who started the first had to sigh, then stopped, and then motioned for everyone to hurry up and eat.

The first literati is Zeng Hua's second son, Zeng Min, and Shoucheng is his friend Yin Shen. Yao Chen is the Qiangzhou Juzi who once met Yin Shen on the way to the entrance examination and finally became friends. And known as Zhang Qi is Yang Yao, the son of Yang Qi, the former Yan Taiwei. When the city was broken, Yang Yao committed suicide and martyrdom, Wang Meng felt his loyalty, so he recommended his son Yang Yao to study at Chang'an University. Later, he was accepted as a disciple. Together with Fang Mo, Fang Kuang, Cui Liang, Han Yin, Tian Xian, Shen Shao, Yang Yao, and Hao Luo, they are collectively known as "Jiujun" and are the top figures of the new generation in Kanto. Later, he met Zeng Min and Yin Shen at Chang'an University. Become friends.

After Zeng Min traveled to Weihai with his father, he became interested in the ocean and voyages, so he was selected to apply for the Admiralty in the scientific examination. According to the military system, Beifu allows some students of national studies and state studies to join the army after graduation, and as long as they pass the examination, they will be awarded the rank of captain of Xuanwu.

When the Admiralty saw that the second prince had thrown himself into the door, he immediately smiled and hurriedly accepted it. And Yin Shen and Zeng Min have always been inseparable, so they also asked for the Admiralty, and pulled Yang Yao over. The Admiralty saw that there was such a good thing as receiving one and giving two away, and Yin Shen and Yang Yao were also famous young and handsome, which immediately made Tian Fengle, the admiralty waiter, bloom.

The Admiralty was already weak in Beifu, and it was too far behind the War Department, and Zhong Qineng was able to take the post of a squire of the Navy Department because this descendant of the former Qingzhou family had been a "water thief" for a period of time, rampant across the river, and finally planted a heel in Jiangxia. Huan Wen pitied him for being a water thief, but at the age of only nineteen, he led thousands of water thieves, and he was "after the famous man", he was forced to be a thief because of the national disaster, so he exonerated him and accepted him as a guard, and then followed Zeng Hua and became his Changshui lineage.

After the establishment of the Admiralty, there was a serious shortage of "naval talents", Zeng Hua remembered Tian Fengdi's background, so he transferred him to the first Admiralty Squire and took over the Navy from the former Qingzhou Thorn Shi Liao Qian. And Tian Feng did not live up to Zeng Hua's high hopes, changing the situation that the navy had been repairing ships and building ports before, and slowly grew the Beifu Navy from small to large for more than ten years.

Zeng Min, Yin Shen, and Yang Yao studied at the Weihai Naval Academy for half a year, and then they were listed under the name of the Overseas Metropolitan Knowledge Bureau of the Admiralty and began to go to sea with the ship. For more than a year, the three of them went to Dongying, and then went down to the South China Sea, and this time they went to Dinghai and met their old friend Yao Chen.

Yao Chen, who was born as a son of the Qiang people, became a naval officer and was full of drama. Yao Chen is very smart, he knows that it is difficult to get ahead in the talent-rich Beifu Army with his own ability, so he ruthlessly "found a relationship" and applied to be transferred to the Naval Officer Academy. And his family knows that he is a "boatman", one by one heartbroken, since ancient times, the Qiang people are good at riding and shooting, I have never heard of being a boatman, and the halo boat will faint you to death. But Yao Chen gritted his teeth and persevered, and made a reputation in the navy for his bravery, and finally became the commander of the naval stormtroopers.

It's rare for the four of them to get together, so they went to Wanghai Town to get together, and they planned to take advantage of more than ten days of vacation to prepare to travel to Huiji Mountain.

The four of them slowly drank the wine and food, chatting about irrelevant topics, and at this time, there was a burst of Wuyin ballad downstairs: "What time is the time to clear the eternal feelings, half a life of lakes and seas, and sing ten thousand mountains and mountains." ”

Zeng Min was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but bow his head and listen to it for a while before he said with a smile: "The land of Sanwu is really a beautiful landscape, and even this Wu sound is also euphemistic, clear, gentle and generous, compared to the arrogant and rugged, high-pitched and majestic Qin dialect, it really has a unique charm."

”

Yao Chen smiled and continued: "Since the second son likes to listen, it is better to ask the guy to invite the courtesan to come and sing a few songs." "Say it. So he called the man. Let him invite the singer downstairs.

After a while, I saw an old man holding a handful of "Ruan Xian" and walked in, followed by a girl who was only eleven or twelve years old. The two looked like father and daughter, dressed frugally, but they looked clean. The guy introduced on the side: "This is Lu Laohan and his daughter Lu Ling'er, both of whom live in the neighborhood here. It's just that the family has suffered a big disaster, so I came out to sing a song to relieve the fatigue of the guest officials, and begged for a few dollars to fill their stomachs, which has no other meaning. ”

It turned out to be like this, Zeng Min looked at Lu Laohan, and saw that he was full of gorgeous hair, full of vicissitudes. But he can't hide an elegant temperament, it seems that he is also a scholar, if it weren't for the real disaster, he would never wipe his face to do this kind of thing.

Zeng Min turned his eyes to look at the trembling again. The cowering girl couldn't help but be shocked. I couldn't imagine that such a thin girl could sing such a clear and beautiful singing voice.

The old man made a gesture to Zeng Min's four-person group, and then sat silently to the side, and began to fiddle with the ground in his hand, "Ruan Xian". The girl stood there, and after a while she became calm as the old man's strings sounded

Zeng Min and the four of them raised their eyes to look. I saw that this girl had a beautiful face. has the grace of a Wu woman, and I saw her standing up and thin. Raising his eyes into the distance, he listened to the rhythm of his father's piano.

With the sound of the ding-dong piano, the girl sang loudly according to the beat: "The head of the high mountain, the road of thousands of miles." The gentleman is gone, and the depression makes people old. In life, it is like a twilight spring. When the time is not available again, what is self-sorrow? ”

Although this is a slightly sad love song between men and women in Wudi, the little girl sings not emotionally, maybe she can't understand what depression makes people old, but she dissolves into the suffering she has experienced in the song, and the faint sadness echoes on the second floor of the restaurant with the beautiful singing, echoing in Zeng Mindi's ears.

Zeng Min had never felt this kind of sadness, he looked at the girl's very childish face, and then looked at the old man's haggard face, and his heart couldn't help but move.

Under the accompaniment of the old man's exquisite piano skills, the girl sang more than ten Wu songs, all of which are songs about the love affair between men and women in Wu, it seems that this is a popular "popular song" among the people, but it is really difficult for Lu Laohan and his daughter. However, the more Lu Ling'er sang, the lower her voice became. The four of them also heard the door, for they all saw the girl's eyes staring at the food and drinks on the table.

Zeng Min waved his hand to signal the old man and the girl to stop, and then asked the man to bring a plate of wheat cakes and two bowls of water for the old man and the girl to fill their stomachs.

The old man and the girl seemed to be really hungry, and hurriedly thanked them and devoured them, Zeng Min and the four of them quietly watched the two finish eating and drinking, and the girl surprised Zeng Min again, she ate six wheat cakes in one go.

After the old man and the girl finished eating and drinking, Zeng Min politely asked: "Old man, listen to your piano, when you are a family, what happened?" ”

The old man sighed and said: "Old man, my surname is Lu Ming Zhan, and I can also be regarded as a side branch of the Lu clan in Wu County. In the first two years of the great drought, there was no harvest in the fields, and life was extremely difficult. Unfortunately, the only son and the only son were seriously ill again, and after a year of tossing, the family was sold out and could not keep anyone, leaving only my father and daughter alone. ”

Speaking of this, Lu Laohan couldn't help but burst into tears, sat there and bowed his head and sobbed, the girl leaned on the old man tightly, dragging the corner of her father's lichen with both hands, and also wept there.

Yin Shen frowned and said: "The Lu clan of Wujun is a hereditary family, and it is also one of the best in Jiangzuo, why don't you have such a big thing and the clan doesn't help one or two?" ”

"A helping hand in the clan?" Lu Laohan smiled bitterly, "The Lu clan has a great cause, and there are as many as 10,000 clansmen, not to mention that the world is difficult now, and everyone in the clan is too busy to take care of themselves, how can they take care of others." In addition, I moved to another county, and it was even more difficult for the clan to take care of it. ”

Zeng Min said with a puzzled look on his face: "No, the Lu family of Wu County cooperates with my Beifu the most, and there are millions of tea, celadons, silkworm cocoons, and ores traded every year, how can they not have the ability to take care of the clansmen?" ”

Lu Laohan's eyes lit up, and he was silent for a moment, just bowing his head and sighing. Zeng Min was about to ask, when he suddenly saw Yin Shen give him a look, and his heart suddenly realized. The Lu family trading company is different from the Beifu trading company, it is only in the hands of a few people in the Lu family, and the rest of the clan cannot share this wealth. Moreover, the Lu family cooperates with Beifu, which also means that the ass owes the most money, and the current Lu clan patriarch Lu Ji is digging out his mind to fill the holes, how can he have the energy to help the clansmen.

Zeng Min turned to talk to Lu Laohan about other aspects, and after a few words, Zeng Min, who knew a little about music, found that Lu Zhan was actually proficient in music and musical instruments, and he could also write lyrics, no worse than those music and rhythm professors when he was studying in Chang'an, and he read the scriptures and had some insight into the Five Classics.

Zeng Min lowered his head and thought about it for a while.

"Mr. Lu, I want to recommend you to go to Chang'an, the northern governor, and I know a few professors of Chinese culture who I am familiar with, and with Mr. Lu's talent and learning, I can naturally get a place in Chang'an Chinese Studies." Zeng Min asked sincerely.

Lu Laohan was stunned for a while, he and his daughter just came to sing a tune, and he didn't expect to encounter such a good thing. To Chang'an, the North Governor? For the troubled people of Jiangzuo, it is simply a paradise, and it is not in vain to be able to learn from those music and rhythm masters in the Western Regions of Qiuzi in Chang'an Chinese Studies. But Lu Laohan thought deeper, is there such a good thing in the world? These four people are so enthusiastic to help themselves, can they guarantee that they will not have ulterior motives?

Yin Shen seemed to see Lu Laohan's doubts, so he opened his mouth to explain: "Old man, please rest assured, we are all people with official positions in Beifu, and we will never commit adultery and violate the law." If the old gentleman doesn't believe it, you can go to the Ningbo Port Metropolitan Office to inquire one or two, and you can confirm the identities of the four of us. The four of us helped the old gentleman, but I admired the old gentleman's talent and learning, and I couldn't bear to watch it buried in the troubled times. ”

Seeing that Lu Zhan was a little moved, Zeng Min asked his man to bring pen and ink, and immediately wrote a letter, briefly described the matter, drew a monogram, and then stamped the seal on the ring. Then Zeng Min took out more than a dozen silver yuan, combined them with a dozen silver yuan made up by Yin Shen, Yao Chen, and Yang Yao, put them in Lu Zhan's hand and said: "This is the travel fee, Mr. Lu takes this letter to the Ningbo Port Metropolitan Office, and then you can book a ship to go to Weihai, and then you can go straight to Chang'an." ”

Lu Zhan wrote the letter now, holding the silver yuan and the letter like tears raining down, and he didn't know what to say for a while, but knelt down with a plop.

Zeng Min hurriedly picked up Lu Zhan and invited him to the table with the girl. Now that everything has been decided, Lu Zhan is not in a hurry to come, but wants to talk to Zeng Min and the four of them to understand the details of these four nobles, so that he can come to Japan to report.

While they were chatting, they suddenly heard a panic downstairs, and then someone shouted on the street: "It's a fight!" The Taoists of Sun Sacrifice Wine and the church are fighting! ”